Scales
by Eternal White Rose
Summary: The sea would always be his home, and the prince would always be his love, but he wanted both, not just one. [Gift-fic for haruka-hourou] /Merman!Levi/


**This is my fiftieth story on . It is dedicated to and written for a very special haruka-hourou. My message to you is:**

**ERMAHGERD I LUVZ YOUUUUUuuUUU (pls love me back) **

* * *

**Scales **

* * *

Coral retracted back into itself as lithe fingers floated above it, curling back into a fist as the being swam on, petting fish that passed by. He hummed a soft tune to himself, looking up above the waves, flipping his fin to move through the water to the surface, breaking into the sunlight, flipping his hair out of his face as he watched the waves hit the sand of the beach. Levi let out a soft smile as he swam over to a nearby rock, resting his arms on it. This was his favorite part about his daily routine. Even if his being a merman prevented him from actually speaking with the young man he was watching.

His emerald tail swished in the water as he watched the human on the shore. This had become a regular thing; him swimming up to the surface to watch the young prince as he took strolls down the beach. The prince didn't know that Levi watched him every single day, or that it was Levi's dream to meet him and talk to him. But merfolk had a strict rule about revealing themselves to humans.

Humans were monsters. They only killed any type of sea life and didn't care about anyone other than themselves. But Levi was sure that it wasn't the case. He had fallen in love with the prince, even if the prince didn't even know he existed. But Levi, one of the many sons of the king of the ocean, knew better than to disobey the rules set by his ancestors. He kept his distance even if it hurt to do so.

He dove back under the water when the man turned his head, taking a few deep breaths as he steadied his racing heart. In the kingdom, he was known as the stoic prince, a glacier if you will, and yet here he was; face red and heart beating over some brat he didn't even know. His back rested against the cold of the rock, tail flicking back and forth. He hated this. He hated hiding.

He stuck his head out of the water and over the rock, meeting emerald orbs, and shot back, a mess of flailing arms, and almost hit the water. A hand reached out and grabbed his, pulling Levi back onto the rock. The merman fought back, trying to keep the dark green tail out of sight. All of a sudden, the wonderful face that he had been watching from afar was directly in front of him. He felt his face flush as the human smiled. "Have you been watching me?" he asked, squeezing Levi's hand in his grasp.

He tried to pull away. "U-uh…" He lost his train of thought. The prince's green eyes were so deep and so full of life. "I—um."

He chuckled, pulling Levi even closer. His eyes drifted south. "Whoa! You're a mermaid…"

"Merman," Levi growled, flipping his tail fin in agitation. "There's a difference, your highness."

"How did you know I was a prince?" the boy's eyes glinted in the sun as Levi pulled himself on top of the large chunk of stone. Now that his secret crush knew that he was a sea creature, why bother hiding it? "Have you been watching me?"

Levi felt his throat constrict. "I assumed by your clothing," he lied, gesturing to the fancy garb of the man next to him.

The brunet laughed, leaning back on his palms. "I see. I'm Eren."

"Levi."

"So what's a merman," he emphasized Levi's earlier correction by leaning in closer. "Doing above the waves anyway? And why were you hiding behind this rock? I swear; you were totally watching me."

Levi looked away, his face flushing at the sudden close proximity. "I said before; I was not."

"Sure." Eren drew out, smirking a bit. "You actually got really flustered and stuttered out some random bullshit before I called you a mermaid."

Levi scowled and moved away from the brunet. At first, he thought that the boy was a nice person with a caring heart, but now, after hearing the spew of words coming out of his mouth, Eren turned out to be nothing more of a brat. Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance, crossing his arms. "I'm sorry," Eren quickly said, running a hand through his hair. "I didn't mean it."

"I was watching you for a while," Levi finally confessed, eyes drifting to stare at the little fish swimming in front of them.

"So I was right!"

"Oh, shut up."

Eren laughed, the sound making the merman's heart pound. "Yeah, I noticed you a few times, Levi."

His eyes widened. "I didn't think you were a merman though. I just thought you liked to swim a lot, and always swam when I was out on a walk."

Levi looked at him suddenly. "Please don't tell anyone! You are the only human I've ever shown myself to!"

Eren smiled, and turned his head when a voice from faraway called his name. His smile morphed into a frown, and he looked back at the creature, only to find that he had jumped back into the water, staring up at the prince. "Hang on!" Eren called over his shoulder, and leaned down. "I dropped something!" he said, and Levi raised an eyebrow as Eren brushed his lips over his. His face flushed, and he backed away. Levi lowered his burning face back into the sea water, trying to cool it off. "Meet me here tomorrow, okay?"

Levi nodded, smiling softly.

* * *

Mikasa watched her cousin do flips in the water, arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. Levi had never been so cheery before, and ever since he came home from his little trip through the ocean the day before, he'd been more than happy. It irked the mermaid a bit, but she knew better than to question him about it. Levi had this temper and whenever it flared, any sea creature in the close area swam away, afraid of his wrath.

But now? Now the deranged prince was humming to himself and flipping his fin faster than she'd ever seen him before. A brunette swam up to her, her dark red tail flicking. "What's got his flipper in a knot?"

"I don't know, Hanji," Mikasa replied, turning to leave the room. Hanji followed, fixing her faux glasses (she found them somewhere and fixed them up and began wearing them because, "oh my gosh! Humans wear these things!") and glanced back at Levi. "He's never been this happy before."

"Maybe he met a human!" Leave it to this insane mermaid to think of something like that.

"It's forbidden, remember? Levi's a prince of the ocean, why would he break the rules his own family created?"

Hanji lifted a hand to her chin in thought, thinking of a reason one of her closest friends (even if Levi rarely ever mentioned the words 'friend' and 'Hanji' in the same sentence) could possibly go to the surface and mingle with the magnificent creatures that lived above the waves. "Maybe he's in love?" A heartbeat. "With a human!" And a squeal.

Mikasa snorted loudly, fixing a glare at the older mermaid. "Yeah, right. He has all the mermaids in the sea to look at, so he fell for a human?" she thought about it for a moment. "As nice as falling in love sounds, Levi would never—"

Hanji shrieked as Levi swam past her, out the castle and into the distance. Her glasses flew off her nose, and she made a hasty grab for them. Fixing them on her face, she stared up at the bubbles left as a trail from Levi. She looked over at the black-haired teenager next to her, mouth agape. "Where's he going now?"

Mikasa shrugged.

* * *

Levi swam up to the surface, his head breaking through the waves, and he looked over at the beach. He swam over to the same rock as before, resting his head against it. He took a few deep breaths and looked around it, watching the sand as he waited for the prince to come. The sun was high in the sky, and the heat above the ocean was unbearable. But for Eren, Levi supposed he could deal with it.

He rested his head against the rock again, sighing softly. His emerald tail twitched in the water. If there was anything Levi hated more, it was waiting. Specifically, waiting while sitting still. He was a fast merman, and loved swimming. He submerged himself and began swimming around the rock as fast as he could. He was trying his hardest to calm down his beating heart.

He stopped when he saw legs in the distance, his eyes wide as the body came closer to him. He moved behind the rock, hiding his tail. He took in a deep breath and stood absolutely still, until a hand grabbed his and pulled him up. Warm lips fit themselves against his and his brain registered what was going on, but Eren had already pulled back. "Were you trying to make yourself dizzy?"

"No," Levi replied stubbornly. He looked away. "No…" he repeated.

Eren laughed. He swam around the merman, taking in his appearance. "Merpeople are really beautiful," he said with a faint smile. "Prettier than humans, I think."

Levi felt his face flush, and the brunet leaned in and kissed him again. "I don't know how long I can stay out here. Erwin's going to have my head if I don't show up or if he realizes I ran off."

"Erwin?"

"Oh, I didn't want to tell you about him. Erwin's the prince I'm supposed to marry. You saw him yesterday?"

"I heard him," Levi replied, crossing his arms and jumping slightly when Eren wrapped his arms around his waist.

"Yeah. I don't want to marry him. I used to. But not anymore." Levi looked at him. "I fell in love with someone else."

"Who?"

"…You."

* * *

"Levi, what is wrong with you now?"

"What do you mean?" the green tailed merman demanded, hands jutting to his hips. Mikasa was really getting on his case lately about some dumb things. He loved his cousin, yes, of course he did. Family was the most important thing to him. But her nagging just—it aggravated him so badly. "I'm fine."

"You've had your head above water for a while now," Mikasa replied, and Hanji swam up next to her. Levi froze. "Something's up with you."

"Nothing's up with me," he quickly replied, turning away and flicking his fin. Leave it to his cousin to start butting into his life. "I'm fine."

Not wanting to hear another word, he swam away, leaving Mikasa and Hanji with nothing but bubbles.

* * *

Levi swam to the nearby archives, searching through the shelves, trying to find something which would tell him if he could stay with Prince Eren despite their difference of species. The entire underwater cave was coated in scrolls, books, and slates that explained the history of the world. Some mercreatures had found them abandoned at the beaches across the oceans, while others created them with their knowledge of the old age.

The old age was said to be the time when the humans and merfolk lived together without any war. They made most of the archives by working with each other, which was how the sea dwellers got most of the information on the way humans lived above the waves.

The reason why the two societies fell apart is unknown to the new age. It was never recorded in the old age scrolls or texts.

Levi knew that back then, merpeople had ways to make humans grow a tail and be able to swim alongside the merfolk forever. Magic wasn't difficult for a mermaid, just very uncommon seeing as the use was never needed ever since the dispute with humans. Levi knew that if he searched enough, he'd find a way to make Eren into a merman. He loved the ocean and his subjects; he was to take the throne soon, well as soon as the current king keeled over and turned into shark dinner, but he loved Eren too.

Being caught between two loves of your life wasn't an easy thing, especially when both societies hated each other.

The current scroll in his hand told of a legend where a mermaid fell in love with a human, but knowing that their love could never be because she couldn't live on the surface and he wouldn't survive underwater, she shed one tear onto the skin of his legs, which morphed them into a merman's tail.

Levi couldn't decide which was more stupid. The fact that a mercreature's tears can cause a human to turn into a mermaid or the fact that the human couldn't at least afford a pool or something.

But still, he mused as he set the scroll down on its shelf. It was worth a shot, right? The only problem lay in the fact that he really couldn't make himself cry.

* * *

Eren and Levi continued to meet for weeks, casually sharing kisses here and there as the sun rose and set. Levi knew whenever that Erwin guy was coming to find Eren to drag him elsewhere and the brunet in turn knew when it was time for Levi to depart least the kingdom begin to worry.

This one sunny day, however, something was off with the human prince. He was withdrawn, didn't even kiss Levi hello that day. Instead just perched himself on their normal rock and sat there, staring into the water. It worried the merman greatly. Usually the brunet was bubbly and happy, ready to spill his day's story to Levi like there wasn't a care in the world—

"I'm getting married tomorrow. To Erwin."

—Levi swore he heard his heart shatter into thousands of pieces at the first words Eren had uttered that day. It was like his world had just came crashing down. "What? Tomorrow?" he sputtered, tail flicking in annoyance. Or maybe that was anger. He couldn't tell. "I thought you were going to wait a few months."

"The council decided that they wanted our kingdoms to join sooner, and that can only be done with our marriage," Eren explained, fiddling with his fingers.

Levi was fuming. This was absolutely not the news he was expecting to hear. He had just gotten Eren to fall in love with him, and now some blond prince was going to take him away just because it made a good impression on both kingdoms and provided good connections? This was just outrageous! Underwater, everyone married for love and for peace, not because someone had decided that this person was the one you were going to marry and spend the rest of your life with.

"Levi?" Eren questioned, placing a hand on the merman's twitching fin. "Levi, you're crying."

The older man just shook his head, hands reaching up to paw away at his tears. "No I'm not," he said stubbornly. "I don't cry."

"But you are," Eren whispered, scootching closer to the merman, kissing his temple. "I'm sorry for upsetting you. I'm not leaving you, though."

Levi shook his head, trying to collect himself but feeling the tears continue to rush forward. He leaned close and buried his head into Eren's smooth chest, sobbing quietly, finally feeling as though everything he had gotten a hold of was disappearing and there was nothing he could do about it.

A lone tear splashed onto Eren's lap. The skin began to shimmer, and Levi caught a glimpse of it and pulled away, sniffling. What was happening? Then the pieces in his brain clicked together. The scrolls. The spells. This had actually worked? He continued to stare down at the boy's legs, watching them morph together into a beautiful emerald tail, the same color as his eyes. "Woah," he whispered, reaching down and grabbing the pale fin at the tail's base. "Holy crap I grew a tail."

"So the scrolls were right," Levi mused to himself, chuckling softly.

"Scrolls?"

"A while back I read that the old age had a way to turn a human into a mercreature. The tears of a magical being are pretty powerful, as I'm sure you've heard from the nymph and faerie stories—"

"Nymphs and faeries actually exist?" Eren suddenly asked, losing his balance and falling into the water, Levi quickly following him. The older merman noticed him holding his breath out of impulse, so he blew a couple of bubbles in his direction. The brunet took the hint and exhaled, smiling broadly. "I can breathe underwater!" he squealed.

"Anyway...if a mermaid's tears drop on a human's legs, the human will turn into a mercreature, and vice versa." Levi paused. "It usually only works when they're in love."

"No wonder it worked for us," Eren mused, wrapping his arms around Levi. He gasped. "What about Erwin?"

"Maybe, if you explain what happened, he'll drop all accusations on the sea kingdom and we'll live in harmony again?" Levi suggested, shrugging. "I can't do it; I'm a prince. It would make it seem like I'm desperate for their land, or something. I don't know, humans confuse me."

"You fell in love with a human."

"Never said you didn't confuse me."

* * *

The two kingdoms had agreed on settling their differences and peace once again flourished above and under the waves. Eren and Levi were set on getting married, Mikasa finally was able to meet the stranger that had captured her stoic cousin's heart, and Hanji fell in love with prince Erwin.

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**Publishing fanfics with Ren (my new laptop) is a chore. Formatting on this went to shit, and I apologize in advance.**

**With this, I'm retiring from the fanfiction part of SnK until further notice. Thanks for sticking with me until now! Prepare your anuses for the second season, because I will return.**

**I loves you Haru xoxo**

**-Eternal White Rose**


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